A pressure-reducing regulator, also known as a high pressure regulator, is a valve that reduces pressurized fluid or gas to a lower pressure and delivers it for consumption. The fluid or gas may be supplied, for example, from a high pressure cylinder or via a hose from a compressor. Consequently, high pressure regulators are used to allow high-pressure fluid or gas supply lines or tanks to be reduced to safe and/or usable pressures for various applications. A common application for high pressure regulators is compressed natural gas (CNG), which is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline, diesel, or propane. CNG is a more environmentally clean fuel alternative and safer than conventional fuels in the event of a spill. CNG is typically stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of 3600 psi, usually in cylindrical or spherical shapes. Recent advancements in technology have resulted in CNG being used as fuel for traditional gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles that have been converted for CNG consumption.
Conventional high pressure regulators utilize a well-known diaphragm and spring mechanism to regulate pressure and flow. U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,083, for example, discloses a pressure-reducing regulator for CNG including a diaphragm and spring mechanism. This design, however, inherently causes the regulator to “droop” or cause an undesirable drop in the outlet pressure and flow. The well-known droop phenomenon is caused by high demand from the outlet port causing the pressure to drop while waiting for the diaphragm and spring to overcome the pressure drop and increase the opening at the pressure reduction orifice. In short, when there is an increased need for fuel (such as in response to a gas pedal push in a motor vehicle implementation), the diaphragm and spring design exhibits a time delay in meeting the increased fuel need. This can be disadvantageous in a vehicle implementation where drivers expect immediate responses to pedal commands. Further, the droop phenomenon can negatively affect the emissions of an internal combustion engine.
Another well-known drawback of conventional high pressure regulators involves the overly-simplistic manner in which pressure is regulated. In a standard diaphragm and spring-design regulator, the diaphragm and spring components react solely to the amount of pressure the components experience. Thus, the regulator functions performed by standard diaphragm and spring-design regulators are dictated solely by current pressure conditions, such as the level of in-bound gas pressure. Other known approaches to high pressure regulator design may allow other data to be taken into account while performing regulator functions. U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,705, for example, discloses regulator functions that are dictated by fuel flow conditions. Internal combustion engine vehicles, however, involve a multitude of complex systems that are affected by a plethora of conditions and data. The currently available high pressure regulators, however, do not adequately account for the many relevant factors when performing regulator functions.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above, and particularly for a more efficient high pressure regulator that provides a desirable pressure and flow, and takes various relevant factors into account when performing regulator functions.